After months of planning, on 20 August 2013 the Riesentöter Region, Porsche Club of America, Inc. (RTR) organized Riesentöter Foundation (Foundation) as a Pennsylvania nonprofit corporation. RTR is a Pennsylvania nonprofit corporation incorporated on 16 June 1958 and tax exempt as a civic association under section 501(c)(4) of the Internal Revenue Code. Following its organization, the Foundation applied to the Internal Revenue Service to be classified as a public charity tax exempt under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. The IRS granted that approval on 4 February 2015 and has listed the Foundation in Organizations Eligible to Receive Tax-Deductible Charitable Contributions (IRS Publication 78).

The purpose of the Foundation is to be an educational organization that teaches safe driving and road safety in Southeastern Pennsylvania and adjacent areas through one-on-one “hands-on” training, with an emphasis on driver training for the teenage and over-age-55 driver populations. The ability of traditional classroom driver education courses to improve students’ car handling in real life driving is limited. In order to have the maximum impact on improving driver safety, the Foundation’s driving courses will operate by putting a highly-trained and experienced instructor in the passenger seat of each student’s car for one-on-one exercises.

Conducting driver education courses through a tax-exempt organization provides many benefits to both the Foundation and the public at large. First, because the Foundation will rely upon donated space and volunteers to conduct its activities, 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status enables the Foundations to solicit partners and volunteers more easily. Second, the ability to solicit tax-deductible contributions enables the Foundation to attain the financing necessary to expand its operations and reduce the cost of its courses. The Foundation expects that its activities will be supported largely by course tuition revenue, but plans to supplement tuition revenue with donations from the public. Finally, as a 501(c)(3) public charity the Foundation may receive higher levels of publicity and be more effective in spreading awareness of road safety issues and the need for driver education.

The Foundation is governed by a Board of Directors consisting of those three individuals who are then serving as the President, Vice President and Treasurer of RTR. Thus, the Foundation’s directors are selected by the members of RTR. At all times, the Foundation will maintain its own books and records, keep its own bank accounts, conduct its own board meetings and other activities, file its own Forms 990 and other tax forms, and have a tax identification number separate from those of RTR.

Your contributions to the Foundation may lower your tax bill. By donating, you support the Foundation and its valuable programs, including the Tire Rack Street Survival teen driver safety program and adult driving clinics!